Projects My 1929 Model A Ford AV8 truck build thread

Here are some pictures from tonight. I put the tires and wheels on, put the rear u-bolts on the spring, attached the steering arm onto the left spindle, and added gear lube to the rear axle.

 

I needed to mount the battery so I bought this one from Speedway and modified it slightly. I know what your going to say, but it was $18.00. I can't spend 1/2 a day building it for that. Plus it has holes in it that match the frame.



I made some 1/4 x 1 x 1 angle iron brackets and welded them to the box so I could frame mount the battery.






Here it is installed. It is solid as a rock.

 

My next project id the gas tank. The tank was on the fire pumper wagon and it is perfect for the truck. Inside was full of crud so I washed it out with acid and then filled it with some nuts and rolled it around for about 1 hour. It cam out really clean. I rinsed it with water and baking soda to neutralize the acid. Then I had David scuff it and paint it.







It came out good and you don't see it so it does not have to be perfect. He enjoyed painting it.

Here it is in the frame.



I put the box on because I need to cut out a place for the filler neck on the left rear side of the box and I needed to make sure the fuel line cleared.

 

looks good what did yoiu paint all the black parts with

 

Thanks, Mostly I used single stage enamel. The small parts like battery tray and misc stuff I used rustoleum spray cans. We brushed the gas tank because we ran out of spray cans.

 

Here is a video from today of the flat head idling. I have water in it now. It starts up real good and seems to smoke less and less.


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motor, frame look awsome and it sounds healthy too...

 

More progress:

 

Mate ,I don`t want to piss in your pocket or anything ,but that was the most enjoyable build thread I have seen on here for a long time. fantastic.Sad part is you probably lost your pickup to the budding little mechanic working along side you by now.

 

Where did you get the rear tires from I would like to get a set for my 30 A pickup

 

Here you go:

http://store.cokertire.com/popular-tire-applications/truck.html?adjclear=true&p=2

 

Thanks!, I am glad you enjoyed it. As far as David goes, it's ok, he has 6 years until he gets a license. Plus he has a 48 Ford f1 truck project already.

 

When I installed the cab on the frame, I first put down the welting, the splash aprons and then the rubber pads and installed the wood. Last night I bolted it down and I was not too happy. This is what my doors looked like.





Today I talked to several old timers that are Model A fanatics and they told me I had to space the mounts to get the doors to line up. I was thinking no way, the door is sagging 1.5". So I loosened up the bolts and made a spacer out of 1/4" thick rubber and put it under the left side rear cowl mount. It was better but not enough. I added one more and to my suprise it was close. I then removed the forward 1/8" rubber mount and low and behold it was right on. The wood even fit!






Now for the left side. The door fit was close once I loosened up the wood. I had to remove some wood to make the piece fit correctly. I re bolted the wood on. I was told I may need to heat the hinges and bend them. I did just that to the lower hinge and pounded it forward. Now the passenger side fits too!





I am very happy it worked out. I lubed the latches and hinges and the door close like a new truck!

 

please dont paint that body..

 

I am torn about it. I don't like rusty cars anymore.

It was primed in 1962. I talked to the guy. He sold it in 1964 because his wife was pregnant. It was never assembled or registered since. It was baby blue when he bought it from his neighbor. You can still see it in places. He put a 327 and 4 speed from a 55 Chevy in it. It was never finished.

 

So I did the right thing and bought an american made master cylinder and paid about $20.00 more for it than the import. Well I got the bad one. So I sent it back and got another one. This one is good. So I painted it and installed it.






I still need to run front brake lines. I managed to attach the front hoses to the frame. Now I need to bend some lines up.

 

I worked on the gas tank some more. I Did not have a fuel gauge sending unit that was good that fit the tank. I did have a brand new Bob Drake 1940 ford sending unit though. I modified it by drilling an extra set of holes in it. It even came with instructions for determining the lentgh of the arm based on the tank depth.

 

The next dilemma was the filler neck for the tank. I had a few to choose from but none of them looked good. I needed something smaller and tighter to the box. I decided I had to make one.



A friend has an exhaust bender so we grabbed some 2 1/4" tubing and bent it in a 90. I cut it down to size and then we expanded the neck to 2 1/2" to accept a 40 Ford gas cap neck which I unsoldered from the middle neck in the picture.



I soldered it on the new neck, drilled and tapped it for a 1/8 npt elbow to attach the vent hose and painted it black.
I chased all over town to find fuel rated 2 1/4" hose and came up empty so I removed it from a f1 parts truck. I hope I don't have any leaks!

 

awesome build i dig the way the engine sounds , and the doors lining up came out nice also . yup paint it , rust is ok if thats your thing but even a brush job done well is better than a rust rat

 

The next project on the list is the dash and steering column. The dash is a 34 Ford. The column is a 48 F1 Ford. Here it is mocked up.







The first task was to mount the dash. I used the stock screw mounts across the top. I had to redrill the A dash rail. The I made these mounts to tie it in across the lower section.



Here is how it looks. The wheel is pretty far out from the dash.





I plan on using a 46 Ford truck wheel. It is similar to a 40 Ford Deluxe only it is black. The column is bent and damaged so I don't feel bad about cutting it up. I took the top section off to adapt to the 46 truck wheel. I took 2" out also to bring it closer tom the dash.



My knee just misses the wheel.

 

I have several stock Ford column drops but they put the steering wheel to far down into my lap. I need to keep it tight to the dash. I could not find anything to bolt in so I made this one.

I started with a 4" long piece of 2x2x1/4 angle.





I drilled a 1 3/4" hole in it.





And then cut off the corners and ground them in a curve.



I had to put it in the press to put a slight curve in it to match the dash.



I then welded it up after a test fit.

 

Now that I have a column drop I can finish shortening the steering shaft. I made a sleeve out of 1" od dom and bored it in the lathe to accept the steering shaft. I had to heat it up and press it on. I still need to weld it. I want to make 100% sure it is right first.





Next I cut the outer tube in order to shorten it and add the top piece from the 46 truck which has a bell to match the steering wheel. The nice thing about the truck column is it is a floor shift and does not have the extra junk from the column shift like the 40 car would have.



I laid the piece in a piece of angle to get them to line up. I beveled the edges and tack it together. I still need to finish weld this yet also.

 

The last project for the day was to mount the seat. I started by making some rear mounts out of 1/8"x2" flat stock.





For the front we used 1/4"x1" flat stock. I had help heating it to make some bends.



Then we welded the brackets to the seat and David drilled two mounting holes.



Here was our "test" drive. It should work just fine.

 

well in a couple more years you can kiss that truck good by, hah.
looks like it,ll be in good hands though.
nice work..

 

If yer gonna teach em, teach em eye protection !!!!!!

 

Its lookingf great... Kinda makes me get out and start wrenching on mine some more! Keep up the good work.

 

very cool!!

 

Not much room in those old 28-29 trucks!

Excellent work!!

 

X2

Its one thing to inflict yourself but to inflinct someone unsuspecting?

Cool otherwise

 

Yeah my bad, I just bought small safety glasses on Friday for both boys. I also bought a bunch of small gloves.